Ambitious plans promise to transform the upper part of Watford town centre.
Watford Borough Council has come up with a masterplan it hopes will revitalise “tired” parts of the town to ensure Watford continues to prosper for years to come.
A draft masterplan due to be discussed by its cabinet next Thursday extends from West Herts College in Hempstead Road to Clarendon Road.
It aims to create a “cultural hub” around the town hall, reviving areas around High Street and creating homes and green spaces.
Elected Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “We want to create a vibrant and economically successful town.
“We have come up with options of how we can regenerate the top of the town centre.
“We want to shape our future and we are being proactive. Doing nothing is not an option.”
No costings have been produced, but the mayor says if all goes to plan, there will be a lot of work within the next five years.
The council has proposed three phases for the work.
Phase 1, which is at a more advanced stage than phases 2 and 3, largely focuses around the town hall and The Avenue car park.
The council says the hall “no longer meets requirements” for modern office use and the most appropriate development is to convert it into a four or five-star hotel.
The town hall may be turned into a hotel
The council chamber and committee rooms would remain but new modern council offices would be built at an unidentified location.
The car park at the back of the town hall has been earmarked for family sized two or three-bed flats and outdoor play areas.
Watford Museum would be relocated from its current site in Lower High Street to a new building next to the library and will include community space, a gallery and a café.
Watford Museum (right) is proposed to be relocated
The current Avenue car park would be turned into a multi-storey car park – two storeys underground and three storeys above.
An aerial view of the town hall site and how it could look if the current draft masterplan is adopted. To the left is the town hall which could be converted into a hotel, with flats behind. The library and NHS building will remain. A proposed multi-storey car park at the top right with the new Hempstead Road snaking around the top of it. And aspirations for a newly designed Rickmansworth Road, and surface crossing, which gets rid of the underpass and subway, at the forefront
West Herts College and Watford Leisure Centre Central would remain as they are.
But perhaps the biggest change proposed is the road layout. The council has proposed to pedestrianise the two sides of the Avenue car park roundabout nearest the library, with simply a two-way road leading to Hempstead Road.
The new proposed layout of Hempstead Road.
Phase 2 focuses on The Parade and surrounding streets.
The council wants to bring vacant buildings into use as both residential and office space.
The council would like to develop the area around Sainsbury’s, which could see a new modern supermarket to replace the present building.
The area around Iceland and Pryzm could also be improved with taller buildings with opportunity for play areas and car clubs.
The “underused” CitiPark Gade car park would be made smaller, with space created for homes and offices, and the corner of Upton Road and Exchange Road would be redeveloped into a mixed use scheme
Watford Market would be opened up to serve the high street better while nearby Watford House Lane, off Clarendon Road, could become a mews style street with possible shops and restaurants.
Watford Market
Homes, including affordable housing, are proposed in Albert Road South while the council would also investigate making one-way Rosslyn Road, which connects Upton Road and Rickmansworth Road, into a two-way street.
The third phase would involve taking away the underpass for drivers and subway for pedestrians in Rickmansworth Road. A new pedestrian crossing at surface level would connect The Parade and the town hall.
How Rickmansworth Road currently looks from the direction of Cassiobury Park
Rickmansworth Road could look very different with a new crossing and no underpass
The council has also expressed the importance of green spaces – which it says the town is “lacking”. Urban tree planting schemes could be created, alongside rose gardens, green roofs on buildings, and living green walls rather than brick walls.
If the cabinet approves the masterplan it will go out to consultation this summer, and the council is keen for as many people as possible to get involved, ahead of a potential adoption of the masterplan by the end of this year.
The town centre masterplan comes at a time of major development for Watford. Regeneration of Watford Junction is in the pipeline, alongside a potential 1,000 plus development in St Albans Road, while Watford General Hospital is likely to see major investment.
See the full draft masterplan by clicking here
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